Hero
by inspired-looney
Summary: Summary: After leaving LA, Lindsey finds himself battling an infestation of vampires in a small town.  Author's Notes: This was a collaboration between Lament and myself. We co-wrote this for the Create with Me challenge whedonland


**Summary:** After leaving LA, Lindsey finds himself battling an infestation of vampires in a small town.

**Disclaimer:** Lindsey does not belong to us. We're only having fun with him.

**Author's Notes:** This was a collaboration between Lament (.net/u/416153/Lament) and myself. We co-wrote this for the Create with Me challenge whedonland on LJ.

* * *

The dust swirled around the cuff of Lindsey's jeans as he swiveled out of his truck and planted his feet on the parched ground. He'd winced at the ache in his legs as he trudged toward the door that led to the little Quickie Food Mart inside the gas station. He'd been sitting behind the wheel of his truck for far too long, and now his legs were stiff. It was good to get out and walk around. He wasn't here for gas, as he already had a full tank. He was planning to grab a cold drink and a snack but mostly, he was here because he wanted some company. He winced at his internal admission.

Lindsey had been on the road alone for months, and all he'd been able do was think. And then think some more. He had no problem doing the loner thing; but now he was a loner without a purpose, without a challenge. And that was eating at him. A time or two over the past few months, he'd even considered calling to antagonize Angel, just so he'd have someone to spar with. Had he really sunk so low that he missed that do-gooder vampire?

Letting out a breath, Lindsey pushed open the door to the gas station. He wandered around picking up junk food and a bottle of water. After a few seconds, he started to register that he was completely alone. There were no other customers, and since he'd walked through the door, he hadn't seen or heard any signs that there was an attendant working. Yet the lights were on, and the door was open.

Clearing his throat, he called out, "Hello? Anybody working? Or should I just steal this stuff?"

He walked over to the counter and deposited the water and food in front of the register. Biting his bottom lip, he ran a finger along the counter. i_No dust/i_, the thought to himself. As he scanned the immediate area, his eyes fell on a Styrofoam cup. He scooped it up, peered inside, and made a face as the bitter smell of cold coffee wafted into the air.

Something wasn't right here, and Lindsey's internal sensor was starting to go haywire. He grabbed the bottle of water he'd left on the counter and took a swig, letting the cool liquid course down his needy throat. He knew he should leave immediately, but curiosity and months worth of isolation on the highways and country roads was getting the better of him.

He wandered around the counter and into the back room, where he almost tripped over the body of a pimply faced attendant. "Damn," he said out loud. Biting his lip, he knelt down and examined the body. What he saw sent chills down his spine—vampire bites. And relatively fresh ones at that. The attendant was definitely dead, and he wouldn't be rising again. But whatever bloodsucker did this to him might well make a reappearance at any moment.

Lindsey scrambled to his feet, walked briskly toward the door, and stumbled out onto the dusty parking lot. For the first time since his arrival, he really took a look around the rest of the town. It was a normal little town with shops and restaurants and an even a little series of benches at the far end of the street. It was almost quaint. But it was also eerily deserted, and Lindsey knew in his gut that whatever vamp had done away with the attendant was not working alone.

Shaking his head, he climbed into his truck and locked the door. He knew that if Angel saw him right now, he would denounce him as a coward. But Lindsey was a realist. The presence of vampires presented an unnecessary risk, and there was no reason for him to act like a superhero and stay in a place he knew was dangerous. Yeah, he was out of here, and he felt no guilt about it.

And then he heard a piercing scream.

He looked into his rearview mirror and watched as a little girl—twelve at most—appeared out of an alleyway, screaming and running for her life. Behind her were three vamps. Lindsey didn't know what he was planning to do, but instinct compelled him to grasp the handle of his truck and climb back out onto the street. As he did so, one of the vamps grabbed the girl, threw her over his shoulder and disappeared with the others into what looked like a warehouse or a storage building of some kind. Neither the vamps nor the kid saw Lindsey. He could get back into his truck and hit the gas. He knew he could. But instead, he stood there, staring at the now empty street.

Lindsey was never going to be a hero, and in truth, he wasn't sure he wanted to be. Heroism was something he'd read about in books when he was a kid. It sounded good on paper, but grandiose notions of saving a damsel in distress didn't fit into his world. Every time he had ever tried to do the noble thing, he'd been bitten in the ass for it. Sure, once upon a time, when he was still young and stupid, he thought he might be able to make a difference, be a hero in someone's life. But now, he wondered if could even find his humanity. So being a hero? No, that wasn't his game. He'd leave that to Angel and his band of merry men.

Still, Lindsey had stuck his neck out for those three kids when Wolfram and Hart had put a hit out on them. He could have turned the other way and let them meet their doom, but there were some lines even he wouldn't cross. And wasn't this the same thing? If he got back into his truck and left this girl at the mercy of a bunch of bloodsuckers, wasn't it as good as if he'd thrown her right into their arms?

Letting out a breath, he slammed the driver's side door.

He imagined what Angel would say if he saw him about to do the hero thing. Would he mock him? Would he try to help? Would he mock him i_while/i_ he tried to help? The latter, probably. But he wasn't doing this for Angel. He wasn't even sure why he was doing this. One brief burst of heroism wasn't going to absolve him of his previous crimes. But maybe it was a start. Or maybe it was just a fluke. Either way, he was doing this for the girl. No matter how far into the darkness he traveled, he couldn't leave this child to the fate he knew awaited her.

'Why don't I have a stake?' he questioned himself as he crept around the corner of the rundown old warehouse he'd seen them drag her into. He searched for a weapon, something, anything that could help him to i_do what, be a hero/i_? He almost laughed out loud at the thought, before finally spotting some old wood piled in the corner. As quietly as possible, he looked for the sharpest piece he could and took a steadying breath before heading for the entrance, asking himself once more what the hell he was doing.

He needed to know what he was walking into; just blindly moving forward with no solid plan was what had gotten him in trouble in the past, and he wasn't about to make the same mistake again. Scraping some dirt and paint from a side window, he squinted his eyes to see inside, and what he saw wasn't pretty.

Although three of them had grabbed her, there were at least two more inside, teasing her, tormenting her, biting her; but it was obvious she wasn't a meal, she was entertainment. They were enjoying watching her squirm and listening to her begging and screaming.

He had seen a lot in his time at Wolfram and Hart—vampires, demons, animal and even human sacrifices; but there was usually a purpose, a reason for the brutality, even if it was self-serving—to feed, to please someone, or even the thrill of the hunt or the chase, which he could understand; but for all he'd seen, it was rarely done just for sport.

Lindsey hesitated, his blood was boiling at the pleasure they were taking, but there were five of them and one of him; he knew he didn't really stand a chance. He'd left LA months ago and had been on the road, stuck in his truck most of the time; he hadn't had to fight since the day he left. He wondered why he was here, why he was even considering taking on five vampires for what, to save some girl who would probably either spend the rest of her life terrified of her own shadow or turn into a crazy person who hurt others? It was a fact he'd learnt early in life, what goes around comes around and she'd probably come around to hurt anyone who tried to help her; in his experience, most women did.

He looked back at the scene unfolding, the stake gripped tightly in his white knuckled hands, his breathing coming quickly, his body getting ready for the fight. But his mind was gone. He wasn't a hero, this wasn't him; he didn't save people. With a sigh and one final look he turned and headed back to his truck.

He had almost made it; he was almost gone when a scream pierced the night sky in the sleepy little town. Without thinking, without a plan, stake still in hand, Lindsey turned and ran back to the building, bursting through the door and heading straight for the nearest vampire.

His shoulder charge knocked the vamp off his feet temporarily at least, but it gave Lindsey enough time to reach the girl and plunge his make-shift stake through the back of the greasy haired vampire that was holding her in place.

Lindsey cursed when he felt the stake stick as it moved through the vamp's body but adrenalin and terror for what would happen to them if he failed gave him the extra boost he needed. His aim had been true; the stake reached the vampire's heart and he dusted in place, a lingering scream of rage echoing from the demon's lips. The girl's eyes were huge with fear and astonishment and her body was rattling as she fought not to hyperventilate.

The remaining vamps seemed to forget about their prize as they turned their attentions toward the intruder. One of them pushed her to the side and she flew several feet through the air. Lindsey was relieved to see that she was not knocked unconscious when she fell to the dingy floor. He yelled, "Get out of here, little darlin'. Run as far and as fast as you can. Don't look back!"

He turned his full attention back to his first victim who was now off the floor and glaring at him, his snarling buddies converging round their apparent ring-leader, all but frothing at the mouth in their fury at being interrupted.

A feeling of calm fell over Lindsey, the first he'd felt in a long while. He felt himself smiling at the blood-suckers and saw that his reaction disconcerted them a little. He firmly grasped his now battle-tested stake in his hand and said, "I think this fight's a little bit fairer now, gentlemen."

"One meddlesome human disturbing our games is a minor inconvenience," snarled the leader. "You'll be dead in the next few heartbeats, and our little toy won't get very far."

"This meddlesome human has already dusted one of y'all this evening," he said as he twirled the stake in his hands. "Who wants to be next?" He smiled again, actually enjoying the exhilaration of the fight.

He took one step forward and then twisted suddenly, arm snapping out and staking the vamp on the furthest left straight through the heart. The next thing he heard was a snarl and he was flung backward with a powerful kick to the chest from one of the other vamps. He worked with it, snapping himself to his feet and facing off squarely to the approaching vamps.

That he'd managed to dust two already was beyond anything he hoped for. Grace had smiled on him already tonight, and he'd see how much more favor he could be granted. He was focused, and he was calm. He no longer felt like his legs were going to turn to water or that he would disgrace himself and turn and run.

He was probably going to die in the next few minutes, but he was damn well going to go out fighting if that was the case.

"He's mine," the leader said, stepping forward a little more cautiously than before.

"Bring it!" was Lindsey's only reply.

The large vampire lunged forward, one hand aiming for Lindsey's neck, the other grabbing for hand holding the stake. But he was too big and slow and Lindsey easily ducked, moving past him and with a swift kick to just the right spot, he managed to break his leg.

iI might actually make it out of this alive/i, Lindsey thought. The odds were still not in his favor, but they were a helluva lot better than they had been when he'd entered the building.

Leaving the leader writhing and screaming on the floor, he turned his attention back to the minions. His smile had turned to a smirk, and they were now looking at him with more than a little fear in their eyes. They looked at him, looked at their boss, looked at each other and back to Lindsey. Without a word they turned tail and ran.

"Now," Lindsey said turning back to the broken vampire lying on the ground, holding his broken leg and almost whimpering. "A few months ago I might have let you live," he started with a laugh, "hell, a few months ago I would probably have helped you but you know what Mr. Badass Vampire? It ain't a few months ago, and I'm not the same person."

The vampire tried to get up, tried to run but was hindered by his useless leg, and it didn't take much for Lindsey to knock him down.

"Any last words son?" he asked as he leaned over the vampire.

"Just kill me if you are going to," was all the vamp said.

"See, it ain't nice to play with your food it is?" he said with a smile and drove the stake through the vampire's heart, falling to the ground as the vamp turned to dust.

Lindsey lay on the floor, laughing so much he was nearly crying.

"Well Mr. I've got a Soul, I Protect the Innocent, I'm a Hero, Angel, I guess anyone can be a hero if they really try," he said aloud to the empty room.

With a renewed sense of purpose, he got up and walked back to his truck. He could help people, he i_would/i_ help people, and one day Wolfram and Hart were going to know that it was he who brought them down.


End file.
